Several days had passed since the envoy was dispatched. By now, a suitable reply should have arrived from the Imperial Palace. What sort of answer would come back? The Emperor's true intentions remained unreadable. It had been the same in the novel. The Emperor was great, and the Emperor was nothing more than a single supporting character. There was only a description that the winning heroine had been rather fond of him.
A cabinet meeting was underway in the Hall of Winter. Hexon was reporting on the progress made under current conditions. Production continued to rise. Wealth continued to accumulate.
"Your Highness,"
"Yes."
"Is something troubling you?"
It seemed he had been caught failing to concentrate on the meeting. Nothing had changed, but sighs kept escaping him unbidden. The ministers had noticed and were the first to show concern.
"I can't help but be preoccupied. Rumors drifting up from the South, that sort of thing."
"Your Highness, please do not let it weigh on you. They are nothing more than the clamoring of common gossips."
The ministers exchanged glances. A sigh slipped out before he could stop it. Whether he was truly worried or not was difficult to say, but one thing was certain — his thoughts were less on himself and more on Daniela. He was concerned that the stranger the rumors grew, the worse her reputation might become.
"They are gossipmongers who traffic in idle tales, and whatever they may do with those tales, none of it will reach the North."
"Perhaps so."
"And as for the matter of the Crown Prince—"
Hmm. That was the problem. In the end, it was true that the Crown Prince had broken the engagement, but considering that she had since become the Grand Duchess of the North — the interval had been far too short. It had all happened in a rush, in barely a few months. Neither Daniela nor he, nor anyone else, had anticipated it.
"That is precisely the issue. The Grand Duchess is precious to all of you, and to me as well.... I suppose that much is the same."
"But of course, Your Highness!"
"And yet it weighs on me."
He wasn't entirely sure why. It was clearly a matter of the heart. But wasn't it too soon to call it love? They had not taken long to come to know each other, and Daniela had been the one to propose courtship, straight out of the novel she'd come from.
Oh. This—
"Because you hold the Grand Duchess in such deep regard, we shall serve her with every effort at our disposal."
"That's — well — the Grand Duchess and I are... the same kind of... that is..."
He was flustered. He couldn't recall the last time he had stumbled over his words in front of his ministers. Only a series of throat-clearing sounds came out. The right sentence refused to form. In the past, he would have fired back a curt acknowledgment without a moment's hesitation.
"Ha ha ha! Your Highness. You are truly the rightful heir to the blood of the wolf."
"Hexon. Why don't you think of a way to resolve this first."
"Your Highness, if I may be so bold, I know of only one method."
"And what would that be?"
He had asked Hexon, but Hexon gave him a peculiar answer. The other ministers nodded along. Perhaps he had been too lenient with them of late. The atmosphere felt distinctly as though they were teasing him. Weren't you all the ones who said no one in Winter Castle could mock the Grand Duke or interrupt him?
"It seems the saying that a wolf loves only one woman is no falsehood after all."
"Enough. Come now, enough! The meeting is adjourned!"
He rose from his seat. The ministers bowed their heads and held still. If he didn't leave, he would have to endure more of this. He considered waiting them out. He surveyed them, then stepped outside. Nothing was particularly different. They had only just passed the dead of winter.
It was fortunate that the snowfall had been light this year. The sunlight through the window felt unusually bright. Outside, the sounds of citizens filled the air with bustle. He could feel the city growing.
"Your Highness,"
"James. Are you staying within the castle now?"
"No, Your Highness. I had a brief errand for the Grand Duchess and was on my way in haste."
James came hurrying down the corridor. He dropped to one knee before him and gave his cloak a sharp tug to straighten it. This one was as much a paragon of excessive loyalty as Leor — Leor without the stammer, one might say. Sir Roy had something of a bear about him, but James was nothing like that image. He was the very model of aristocratic bearing.
"Daniela? What is it?"
"I have not yet been told, Your Highness!"
All right. No need to shout.
He made his way toward the study. Strictly speaking, a separate study ought to be prepared for the Grand Duchess, but he had said there was no particular need for that. Winter Castle was rather old as it was. Rather than arranging a new room, it seemed more practical to handle matters together with the Grand Duke's work, communicating freely and comfortably—
"Even so, is that not a touch too transparent, Your Highness?"
"Ah, Alfredo. When did you arrive?"
"Your Highness. However one looks at it, there is surely no need to merge the studies themselves..."
W-well, that may be so. The Grand Duchess did need a study of her own. But he had thought it might not be strictly necessary to divide them, and had simply given instructions to arrange one gradually. It seemed better to wait until she had settled into her duties a little more before setting one up.
Truly. He was not making excuses.
"Even so, she will need a separate study for her work."
"I know. I said to take it slowly. Slowly."
"It will be ready before long."
Alfredo was rather perceptive as well — or rather, perhaps it was precisely because he was perceptive that he said such things. He, Alfredo, and James entered the study together. Daniela was bent over a document, deep in thought. She was so absorbed that she didn't notice anyone approaching until they were quite close.
"What is it you are looking at so intently?"
"Yes, ah! Oh. No — yes."
She stumbled over her words. She still seemed to be deliberating over the proper form of address befitting her position as Grand Duchess. She had asked about it occasionally over the past few days — said she wasn't quite sure how she ought to speak. He had told her to be at ease, but that was from the Grand Duke's perspective. It was clearly still awkward for Daniela.
"Um... Grand Duke, is this also something the Grand Duchess...?"
"What is it?"
He examined the document. It was a notice for recruiting maids for Winter Castle. 'Maids' was the word, but until now only the bare minimum had been maintained. The personal guard could fulfill a soldier's role well enough, but servants and maids were a different matter. Had this sort of thing always fallen to the Grand Duchess?
He looked at Alfredo.
"Matters such as these are generally decided by the mistress of Winter Castle. Until now, Your Highness has been the one to decide them."
"Was that how it was?"
"It is only natural, given that Your Highness has been managing the many affairs of House Wintergard alone."
"She has barely just arrived in this castle."
The ministers had been of the opinion that now that Winter Castle had a new mistress, the appropriate protocol needed to follow. Since Winter Castle was considerably more worn than other residences, the thinking seemed to be that it would be worth bringing in more staff to bridge the gap.
"Hmm... Still, it would be worth signing off on this at least once, wouldn't it?"
"What? Me? I — I'm not very good at this sort of—"
"The people being selected are those who will serve Daniela, so for something like this, rather than my name—"
Daniela dipped her pen in the ink and signed with a trembling hand. With this, the staff to serve the mistress of Winter Castle would be chosen. James was there, of course, but that was a somewhat different matter. Speaking of which, why had James come—
"Ah, I — I just wanted to ask something."
"Is that so? Mm, go ahead."
"It's just... I'd like to speak... alone..."
A jolt. He looked at James. It was James who appeared flustered.
"Without me?"
"Yes..."
Hmm. He tapped his chin with a finger several times. Well, there was nothing to be done about it. He quietly stepped out of the study. Even with Alfredo at his side, he—
"Your Highness,"
"What?"
"Pressing your ear to the study door will not allow you to hear a quiet conversation."
"Then how do you lot manage to hear things? Tell me."
"We are ever devoted in our loyalty to Your Highness."
"Be quiet for a moment. I can't hear anything."
Even with his ear pressed to the door, not a sound reached him. He clicked his tongue and turned back toward the Hall of Winter. Alfredo quietly disappeared as well.
Someone in the attire of the personal guard took up a position behind him. The Owls. With Daniela in the castle, he had taken to speaking with the Owls separately within Winter Castle. This was usually how it went.
"We have placed several people within the Imperial Palace. The first report should be coming shortly, Your Highness."
"Good. Report the latest developments to me directly as soon as they come in. And—"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"That girl beside the Crown Prince. Keep a close watch on her. The Crown Prince is too dim to try anything, but that girl — she has far too much ambition."
"We will focus our attention on her."
The Owl slipped away silently. Dorgon had arrived in the Hall of Winter ahead of him. He wasn't entirely sure what Roy and Jackson were up to in the Imperial Palace, but in truth the most important piece was Dorgon. Roy and Jackson were the pretext; Dorgon's role was to win over the nobles from behind the scenes.
"A piece of intelligence has come in, Your Highness."
"Doesn't sound like good news. What is it?"
"Well..."
The Emperor had made his move. He had presented a newly calculated figure from within the Imperial Palace and proposed that the sum be repaid gradually over three years. However, the timing of those payments would be at the Imperial Palace's discretion.
"Did Roy and Jackson fail?"
"Not at all. By all accounts they are still causing an uproar in the Imperial Palace as we speak. Apparently they threatened to strip the gold from the palace walls if payment was not made immediately."
"Ha! I knew they were the right men to send. They're not the sort to let it go."
"We needed time, and fortunately we have it. Your Highness."
But the situation had not improved. He had wanted to pressure the Emperor through money, but one could not use that as leverage against someone who had no intention of paying in the first place. In that case, the nobles Dorgon was in the process of winning over would need to be set in motion.
Too soon, but—
"Barth. Yes. If House Barth moves, that should do it."
"Do you think House Barth can pressure the Imperial Palace?"
"No need to pressure them directly. All I need is for them to gather the nobles on the pretext of this matter."
"And how shall we proceed after that?"
"We need to push the pressure even higher as it stands."
Dorgon wore a puzzled expression. He couldn't extract everything, but this was the feeling he had.
"In the end, the only option they'll have is to stall for time. I need to see just how far I can turn up the heat."
Ha ha... He laughed quietly. Dorgon seemed to understand now, and gave a slow nod.